


Healing Hands

by Dance_Elle_Dance



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Book 1: Air, Drama, F/M, Post-Season/Series 01 Finale, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 06:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7156859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dance_Elle_Dance/pseuds/Dance_Elle_Dance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm here to help you, Tahno." </p>
<p>Korra pays Tahno a visit after the events of the season finale.</p>
<p>(Originally posted on 7/27/12.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Healing Hands

**Author's Note:**

> I really was fond of the Tahno/Korra pairing at one point, back when I was more invested in this fandom. I hope y'all enjoy.

A knocking on the door garners his attention.

Tahno walks to the door, feeling as if his whole body has been composed of something heavy. He has felt this way ever since his bending had been stripped from him. Nothing feels right anymore. Things that should come so easily to him now feel forced and lame. On more than one occasion he has found himself sitting in front of the ocean and making motions with his hands, hoping that at least one time there will be a ripple that is caused by him and not the natural pull of the moon; each time he has walked away disappointed.

He cannot forget the events that brought him to this point, feeing so desperate for the connection with the sea that he cannot see straight. They are forever seared into his mind, burned onto his person as if with fire. Sometimes he feels the imprint of Amon's thumb on his forehead and shivers overtake his body as he remembers the feeling of the water's call being pulled from him.

On another day, he would ignore the knocking altogether, but there is something urgent in its sound, something that he is unable to ignore.

Opening the door, he sees why.

Bright blue eyes greet him, alive and hopeful, pure _fire_ lighting them.

A half-hearted smirk crosses his face and he leans against the doorframe. "Yes?"

"Nice to see you, too, Tahno," she says, but the bitter punch to her words is ruined by the optimism in her eyes.

"What is it?" Tahno is immediately wary.

A grin splits her face.

"I'm here to help you, Tahno."

Help him with what, Tahno has no idea, and he voices this, unconcerned at how rude he sounds. She shifts her weight from foot to foot as if impatient with him and herself and the world. He finds it endearing.

"Just shut up and let me help you," she says again, barging past him and into his home. He really has let the place go since the incident with Amon, and suddenly he feels embarrassed about it for reasons unbeknownst to him.

"Why should I take any help from you?" he asks with a bite, but it falls flat. He honestly has no reason to care anymore.

Korra places a finger across her lips and stares at him. "Shh. You'll be glad you did soon enough."

Tahno sighs, wanting to say something in retort but doesn't. Though it is strange, he has to admit, that she is the brightest thing he's seen in what seems like forever. She illuminates the entire room.

"Sit," she commands in that know-it-all voice of hers. One that he can't help but love and hate at the same time.

Tahno rolls his eyes but does as she says anyway. He seats himself at his kitchen table and she moves to stand in front of him, a knowing smile on her face and a sense of lightness that he hasn't felt from her in a long while. The only sound other than his thoughts is the _drip, drip_ of the water faucet in the background.

She reaches forward and places her thumb against his forehead.

"What are you…what are…" he splutters, feeling the sickest sense of déjà vu he can. He wants to struggle away from her, but her eyes are so kind that he can't find the gumption to. Where Amon had been cowardly, standing behind him as he took his powers, Korra faces him head on. He expects nothing less from her. "Korra."

And he feels it.

The contrast between losing one's bending and regaining one's bending was the oddest thing. Amon's touch had been sinister, and the water's pull had been drained from him as if the very blood in his body had gone along with it and then had been replaced, lacking that essential vital force.

Korra's power was different. There was a rushing sound, as if he was sitting beside the ocean and listening to it. Then a coolness streaks down his veins, returning what had been stolen. He feels it coming back to him, flowing through his limbs, lining his muscles and his very being.

After a few seconds, she takes her thumb from his skin and pulls away. He feels she is looking at him, but he can't bring himself to stare back.

"Tahno," she says, "I don't think I have to explain what just happened here."

No…no, she doesn't.

"Korra…" her names spills out of his mouth, both an exhalation and an exultation, as if thanking a goddess. For all intents and purposes, she is one.

She smiles at him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "What are you waiting for?"

Tahno stands up. It feels more liquid, natural. He looks at his hands and then over at the dripping faucet. He raises a hand and the power flows from him, stopping the next droplet before it falls and then pulling it toward him. He does the same for the next few droplets that make their way out of the sink, and soon, they are all orbiting around his hand as if tiny moons pulled in by gravitational force.

A grin lights up his face, slow at first, and then laughter bubbles from his chest. Relieved, grateful laughter. He hasn't laughed in so long he's forgotten what it feels like. He doesn't even care that Korra's in the room with him and that she is the one seeing him so vulnerable now. He's so happy that he could light up the room.

He opens his hand and lets the water droplets fall into his palm. They splat against his skin with a cool familiarity that he's missed. Curling his fingers inward around the drops, he turns and faces Korra.

She's looking at him with a maturity that he has not seen on her before. She's smiling at him with a grace that reminds him just exactly who she is - the Avatar.

Tahno doesn't know what comes over him - and if he did, he wouldn't care - because in one fluid motion, his arms are around her strong shoulders, and he buries his face amongst her hair, breathing her in. No words can describe what he is feeling, but he tries anyway. He tries, and finds that there is a choked, croaking quality to his voice.

"Thank you," he says, inhaling shakily. The water in the faucet, in the pipes, outside in the lake, hums to him. Calls to him. Makes him feel bigger than he was before.

Korra's arms tighten around him, and he does not want to lose this moment. This feeling.

"You're welcome," she replies, pressing her curved smile beneath his ear.


End file.
